Adding power to your Mazdaspeed 3 and Mazdaspeed can be amazing and very rewarding. One of the most important decisions you can make when tuning these cars is which fuel pump to use. Since we have never seen a proper comparison of the currently available models we decided to test them for the Mazda community. In this multi-part series, we will talk about the basics, the differences and the advantages with all of the available options.
Most aftermarket fuel pump upgrades consist of changing the internal parts of the factory pump with an enlarged piston and sleeve. By enlarging the piston, you increase the volume of the pump; thus creating more flow and the ability to maintain pressure at higher power levels.
When you first start taking the fuel pump apart, the first thing you are met with is the sight of a strange black deposit in the cap of the pump. Shown above are the deposits common to most caps. The bottom is a machined surface that should be clear of debris. In order for us to more clearly understand the situation we sent the cap out to undergo chemical analysis.
The spectrum analysis shows that the buildup is made of motor oil and defoaming agents that are added to motor oil. The oil in the cap is from the camshaft case that drives the pump, a slight amount leaks by the seal and into the pump. When installing new internals it would be a very good time to clean that area as best as you can and possibly replace the O-ring that seals the area inside the cap.
Once we understood what the substance was we then set out to see the options available. We purchased a CP-E pump (APR), Autotech internals and KMD internals to compare and test. Next time we will be measuring all the internals and comparing expected increases while determining what the real differences were. If you already have a pump, are thinking about getting one or are still scared, you’re going to want to see the next blog in this series.
Cheers,
Joel
Fuel Pump Comparison Part 1 February 28th, 2018CorkSport
Recently I have been getting questions about bolts and how important they are and why we use the parts we do. Here at CorkSport, the little things matter, we engineer every part to outperform not only the manufacturers specifications but also our customers expectations. When something important like a motor mount or an intake is designed at CorkSport we take great care to think about the little things such as: can we make our MAF housings one piece so there can be no sealing issues or possible failures? Can we use bolts that are as strong or stronger than the factory in every application? These are some of the many things that makes us different. Thinking of the little details can really mean the difference between the success or failure of a part. With that in mind, I wanted to just take a quick minute to discuss bolts.
Most bolts are classified by two very easy systems: Grade and Class.
Grade is for Standard (SAE) size bolts and the more common types are grades 2, 5 and 8. The higher the grade, the more that has been done to increase its strength such as quenching and tempering. Graded bolts will typically have radial lines on the face of the bolt to show the grade. No markings mean grade 2, 3 radial lines means grade 5 and 6 radial lines means a grade 8
Class is for metric and like many things metric… they’ve made it easy. The most common classes are 8.8 and 10.9. The class of the bolt is right on the face of it. So an 8.8 class bolt will have 8.8 on the face and a 10.9 will have the same.
Because these numbers can be similar it can be easy to confuse them. Many are using 8.8 class bolts in the place of grade 8 bolts not knowing that a grade 8 bolt is over 30% stronger than a class 8.8 bolt. Many may call this nit-picking but here at CorkSport we are obsessed with attention to detail and want to make things right the first time and if for some reason we don’t then we dedicate ourselves to figuring out why and use that knowledge in further development in the future. Thank you for letting CorkSport have a place on your car and in your life, we appreciate it and take that responsibility very seriously.
Direct injection engines are nothing new… for diesel lovers. The application of direct injection in gasoline engines in large volume is a much newer feat however. As far back as 1902, manufacturers have tried to inject gasoline directly into the cylinder, companies such as: Mercedes, Ford, AMC and many others all tried to perfect the technology. Ironically, the first company to roll out gasoline direct injection cars en mass was Mitsubishi. The long story short version is now most manufacturers offer a direct injection engine or many. The technology is extremely versatile in adding power, improving gas mileage, fine tuning and in many other areas. Who Cares?
So with all the hoopla surrounding direct injection technology why isn’t it in every car? Well, there are a few reasons.
1. Technology is expensive, DI engines require new heads, cams, and many more additional pieces of equipment.
2. The process is proven but un-proven.
3. Change, many auto companies can be slow to adopt newer technology.
With DI engines being the future, why are we talking about them? Well, there are certain problems that many are seeing as a direct result of this technology. The main issue revolves around the intake and the intake valves. In traditional engines, fuel is sprayed outside the combustion chamber into the intake manifold and passes the valves on the way to the chamber. The detergents in modern gasoline help clean the intake tract and the valves and can help prevent deposits left from debris or from the EGR system. With direct injection technology, the injector is directly in the combustion chamber and the gas does nothing but get instantly atomized and ignited. As such, we are seeing common failures in DI engines, there are two key steps you can take to prevent these build ups and increase the power and longevity of your engine.
The first is quality oil. With any modern engine, we recommend a synthetic oil. The benefits far outweigh the costs and in many cases you can actually save money in the long run with longer oil change intervals and fewer mechanical issues as a result of the better protection. Why Oil Matters
All synthetic oils are not created equal. Here in America we are at a disadvantage as to knowing what oils are synthetic and which are not. Due to a loophole in regulations and advertising, companies in America can advertise their group 3 oils (which start life as gasoline and are turned to liquid via hydrocracking) as fully synthetic. Many of these oils such as Royal Purple, Castrol Syntec, Mobil 1 cannot be called synthetic in other parts of the world where these things are taken much more seriously. As such, we recommend group 4 and group 5 oils exclusively. Many oils like Redline, ELF (Total), Amsoil, Torco, and Castrol formulations from Europe are all good examples of this. These oils are so important that every Volkswagen company (VW, Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, etc.) REQUIRE their dealerships to use them exclusively. So when in doubt, you can always have your oil changed at one of those dealerships to make sure you are getting the best quality oil.
What You Can Do
The second way you can care for your direct injected engine is to use an oil catch can. Modern engines have to use EGR systems. EGR stands for exhaust gas recirculation. The basic purpose of EGR is to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions and it works by recirculating a portion of the engines exhaust gas back into the intake to be “burned” again. The unfortunate byproduct of this set up is that many of the things in your exhaust you do not want going in your engine. Unburned gas vapor, burned oil vapor, water contaminated with other different chemical compounds are just a few of the terrible things EGR can introduce back into your engine.
With the installation of an oil catch can, you can capture many of those contaminates and dispose of them before they ever get to the engine you’ve spent so much money on. The gains are easy to see every time you empty it.
So there you have it; to keep your DISI Mazda running strong and trouble free, follow those simple tips and you’ll have a long and happy life together.
The Dangers of Direct Injection February 21st, 2018CorkSport
There’s an old car saying that goes “win on Sunday, sell on Monday”. Mazda has always been dedicated to racing, more so than companies 10 times their size; this weekend at Daytona however, they’ll be putting their money where their mouth is with an oil burner. That’s right, the Mazdas in the Grand-Am class at the 24 Hours of Daytona won’t be rotary coupes; this year everyone will be looking at the taillights of a Mazda 6 with a new Skyactiv diesel. And just like the old saying, much of that engine will be sold here (not on Monday, but soon).
The new cars will use much of the technology in the consumer Skyactiv diesel 2.2L engine that is coming to the states shortly in the 6 and later in the CX5. Mazda will be fielding three cars at Daytona, and there will be no missing them. The #25 Freedom Autosport car will be painted bright green with a giant eagle’s head graphic, the #00 Visit Florida Racing/SpeedSource/Yellow Dragon car will be yellow and orange, and the #70 SpeedSource car will be red and black.
The 24 Hours of Daytona starts January 26th at noon PST. If you want to see the future of racing and Mazda, you won’t want to miss this!!!
Mazda takes the Skyactiv 6 racing January 24th, 2013CorkSport
We have been working feverishly over the holiday to increase our capacity. We added another building which allowed us to expand our current warehouse so that we can not only serve you better but also keep more inventory in stock. 2012 was our best year yet thanks to you and we are heading into 2013 with big plans and will be sharing many exciting releases every month, stay tuned.
Happy New Year
From all of us at CorkSport
CorkSport is Expanding!!! January 7th, 2013CorkSport
